BRUSSELS - NATO forces should target drug labs in Afghanistan, which would cut off a major source of funding for insurgents, said U.S. Army Gen. John Craddock, Supreme Allied Commander for Europe. "If we can destroy the processing facilities, then we can do a lot to stop the insurgency," Craddock said. "If we can take out the wherewithal to make bombs and bullets, isn't that a good thing?" He said his proposal was not about crop eradication and said that there was a "handful of NATO countries that have not listened to the argument."

STUTTGART, Germany — Adm. James G. Stavridis became the 15th U.S. European Command (USEUCOM) commander during a change of command ceremony at Patch Barracks here June 30. The Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen presided over the ceremony that transferred command to Stavridis from Army Gen. John Craddock, who served as the USEUCOM commander since December 2006.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Russia is complaining that the United States has not acted on information the top Russian anti-drug official provided about many narcotics laboratories in Afghanistan.Victor Ivanov, the head of Russia's federal drug control agency, says he provided U.S. officials in Kabul months ago the coordinates of 175 laboratories where heroin is processed. He says U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency officials in Kabul have told him they are awaiting U.S. military approval to take down the labs. "For some reason they are unable to carry out any operations to destroy these laboratories, because there is a delay from the military side," Ivanov told The Associated Press through an interpreter Thursday.

...Ivanov has said that Russia has 2 million opium and heroin addicts.

NATO has urged Moscow to contribute to the war effort in Afghanistan by training more counternarcotics agents and providing helicopters to the Afghan government's air force. Ivanov said he also has suggested going after the major landlords in Afghanistan's poppy growing region by submitting their names to the United Nations for sanctions. "It wouldn't be difficult to trace them," he said. Ivanov said he discussed the issue with U.S. special envoy Richard Holbrooke and other officials Thursday, then left frustrated that they provided no evidence that poppy eradication would strengthen the Taliban. "It sounded not like constructive discussion but a manifestation of stubbornness," he said. "I cannot say they are not listening. They are listening very carefully and attentively. But unfortunately, there are no results."

5. Afghan narcotics take three main routes. The Northern route is aimed at Russia.

"Obviously, we no longer share a direct border with Afghanistan. There is the former Afghan-Soviet border. That line is controlled by Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. The longest section is the Tajiks. It is also the most complex in terms of the topography. The Uzbeks have a comparatively small section. And finally the Turkmens have a fairly long section. As far as we can judge, it too is fairly porous. That is, it wouldn’t cause smugglers much trouble. The narco-transit zone includes parts of Kyrgyzstan, also Kazakhstan, with which we share a land border of 7,500 km. (4,650 miles). Of course, the law-enforcement structures in these neighboring countries do what they are supposed to do. But the fact remains: the flow of narcotics from Afghanistan is now an avalanche. Therefore we are interested in even closer cooperation with our colleagues in Central Asia, Iran, and of course, Afghanistan itself."

6. The Northern route moves 25-30% of Afghan drug volume. These drugs flow into Russia. According to Tsvetkov, the drugs do not pass through Russia to Europe.

7. Synthetic drugs move from Europe into Russia.

8. According to Tsvetkov, Afghan drugs reach Europe through a second route, the Balkan route, which goes through Iran, Turkey and Kosovo. "The border between Iran and Afghanistan, by the way, is very strict and well fortified." Despite the risk, product still moves through the Iranian border using the Balkan route.

"Three drug smugglers were publicly executed in the holy city of Qom, south of the capital, it was reported. Two other drug traffickers were hanged in the southeastern city of Zahedan in Sistan-Baluchestan province, notorious for clashes between security forces and smugglers, according to the state broadcaster....They quoted local judiciary official Hoda Tarshizi as saying that those executed in Qom "had a background in drug smuggling and had served time in jail but had continued with their criminal activities after they were released."

"Russian residents have spoken strongly in favor of the death penalty for persons who commit certain kinds of crimes; among them terrorism, drug dealing and sexual crimes against children. 79% per cent support capital punishment for pedophiles.... 65% want death for terrorists and 61% for drug dealers."

Russia Today, December 7, 2009

9. Drugs also cross the Iranian-Azerbaijani border on the way into Russia. Many drugs pass through Dagestan, which is known as the "golden gates" or "golden bridge."

"Much of the ballooning supply of drugs shipped across Afghanistan's northern border, up to one-fifth of the country's output, has traveled to and through Tajikistan. The opium and heroin funded rampant corruption in Tajikistan and turned the country, still hobbled by five years of civil war in the 1990s, into what at times seems like one big drug-trafficking organization."

Kyrgyzstan

12. The Kyrgyzstan route is very busy. As we know, Manas Transit Center, operated by the US Air Force, is also in Kyrgyzstan.

"Conspiracy theories are not our line, but we know that know that various cities in southern Kyrgyzstan are drug hubs, primarily, Osh, Batken, Dzhalal-Abad and Kyzyl-Kiya. They are all on the ring surrounding the Fergana Valley. They belong mainly to Uzbekistan. One of the routes in this direction begins in the Tajik city of Khorog, on the Afghan border. Then it goes up into the mountains along the Khorog-Osh highway that was built in the Soviet era. In essence, it is the only serious route for crossing Pamir and coming out into the Fergana Valley. Osh is a large city with an international airport. The Osh drug mafia is an influential group. It’s fair to assume that it has political levers, and is trying to strengthen them. In general, narcotics and political extremism, just like narcotics and terrorism, are separate topics. It is clear that the narcotics, or rather the billions of narco-dollars are going to finance and arm criminals of all different “ideological” persuasions. States in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) feel the effects of this most of all.

13. Russia has been asking NATO to do something about this avalanche of drugs pouring out of Afghanistan. NATO refuses to eradicate the crops.

There are three arguments that have been made by Richard Holbrooke, U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, and by NATO Spokesman James Appathurai. 1) The first argument says that to destroy the crops would deprive Afghan peasants of a source of subsistence, and that unhappy peasants would then go over to the Taliban. 2) Secondly, if NATO soldiers become involved in this activity they will increase the risk of their own lives. 3) Thirdly, this costs money.

According to the U.N. Commission on Drugs and Crime (in “Drug Addiction, Crime and Rebels”, a 2009 paper), Afghanistan annually exports some 900 tons of opium and 375 tons of heroin. Over 12,000 tons are in storage. Enough to satisfy the demand of heroin addicts worldwide for the next 100 years. Every year 100,000 people die from overdoses of Afghan heroin, including 30,000 Russians. The world opiates market totals $65 billion, of which the Russian share is $13 billion (20 percent).

Hey Campo,..Believe it or not; Sydney, Australia was the centre for world heroin trade in the 1930's. Why, because the Britsh monarchy used their government to poison the chinese community some years before and subsequently found the trade itself to be "a nice little earner". If you have the time you should take a look at Australia's current 'Afghanistan debate' - debat my arse. It is the most insulting nonsense I've seen since they all supported the 'whore on terror'.

It seems only fitting that the failing empire is fighting it’s version of the opium wars. At least we don’t have to put up with all that fake moralising about how we’re only doing for their own good.... Not!

legal mumbo jumbo

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